Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 847 Enfeoffment and Counties

Guanzhong, Xianyang, the capital of Qin.

This huge city without walls has become increasingly grand after experiencing ten years of war.

Every time the First Emperor destroyed a country, he would build a luxurious palace next to Xianyang Palace that matched the country's style.

Today, the six kingdoms have been destroyed, and the palaces of these six kingdoms have become an endless stretch as far as the eye can see.

This extremely extravagant move that wasted people and money, and no one remonstrated with it. After all...it was Ying Zheng who ordered the construction of the palace, and no one dared to comment on it.

To the south of the Six Kingdoms Palace is the Zhangtai Palace, the core of power of the Qin Empire.

It was the end of the court meeting at this time. Outside the main hall of Zhangtai Palace, dozens of people could be seen walking in different directions.

These are the officials of the empire who are leaving the court and have to return to their respective offices to handle government affairs.

However, there are not exceptions. Some people have no political affairs to deal with after they come to court and can just go about their own business.

Naturally, they included the imperial master, the crown prince and tutor Gu Xun, and Lord Gu.

At this time, he was heading directly towards the exit of Zhangtai Palace, intending to return to his mansion.

Next to him was a handsome young man who looked to be in his prime. He was Gu Xun's student, the eldest son of the empire, Fusu.

After several years, Fusu has completely grown into a gentle young man, no longer the timid young man who still harbored many fears in his heart.

The master and apprentice were still communicating as they walked on the road.

"Haha, how are you feeling?" Gu Xun joked to his student with a joking smile, "I was almost able to become a king and have my own territory, but in the end, I asked Li Si to mess with Huang."

Fusu smiled helplessly, but he was used to his teacher's incoherence. He did not try to dissuade him, but responded seriously:
  "Teacher, please stop making fun of your students. How can this matter be considered sabotaged by Lord Tingwei?"

"Besides, how can we talk about sabotage when discussing state affairs?"

"It's just that my father gave more instructions on the system of counties and counties."

The topic the two discussed originated from the proposals of Prime Ministers Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan at the court meeting today.

The two wrote a letter requesting the restoration of Zhou rites, and enfeoffed all the princes, relatives of the clan, and meritorious ministers to various parts of the empire to protect the central government and stabilize the world.

They made this request not because they were as obsessed with restoring Zhou rites as Confucius, but just for profit.

After all, they can be regarded as heroes, and theoretically they also have a share in the enfeoffment.

Although the empire's military meritocracy system provides everyone with an available channel for advancement, the problem is that officials only enjoy land, not fiefs, and those who reach the title have to be downgraded.

In other words, the military meritocracy cannot guarantee that the descendants of these heroes will have eternal privileges.

Even if you are Chehou, your descendants may become commoners one day.

This is naturally incomparable with hereditary fiefdom.

Therefore, it is natural for many courtiers to hope to restore the feudal system.

However, at the court meeting, Tingwei Li Si opposed this proposal on the grounds that the decline of the Zhou Dynasty was due to the enfeoffment system.

There is no doubt about the final result of the court meeting. The First Emperor decided to completely abolish the feudal system and implement the system of prefectures and counties throughout the country.

As the eldest son, Fusu was not the crown prince, nor was he the confirmed heir to the throne, so he was also included in the enfeoffment.

When the enfeoffment failed, his fiefdom naturally disappeared.

That's why Gu Xun teased him about it.

Fusu didn't care whether he had a fiefdom or not, but he had his own thoughts on the enfeoffment system and the county system.

In other words, doubts.

He thought for a moment and said to Gu Xun hesitantly, "Teacher, I'm a little... worried about the county system." "Oh!" Gu Xun raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "What are you worried about?"

"My father has entrusted the system of prefectures and counties. He hopes to consolidate local power and return it to the central court. That is what you said, teacher... centralization of power. I understand this." Fusu replied with a worried look.

"But... our territory of Great Qin now spans more than three thousand miles, and there are more than forty counties and thousands of counties in the world."

"For such a vast land, all the affairs belong to the central court. Although the local governments will handle part of it themselves, the rest is still too much."

"Is the pressure on the central court too great?"

"Especially...Father..."

In the past, the land area of ​​Qin was less than half of what it is now. Ying Zheng was already so busy that he barely had time to rest every day, let alone now.

Fusu's worries are not unfounded.

In fact, Ying Zheng died so many years earlier than Liu Bang, who was three years younger than him. This is definitely related to the fact that he was busy dealing with government affairs.

Even if Gu Xun didn't know history, he would have an idea of ​​Ying Zheng's state based on his medical skills.

In fact, the responsibility for this problem should be placed on Ying Zheng himself, who grasped power too tightly and too meticulously.

Most of the emperors of later generations had to carefully balance the various forces in the court. In the final analysis, it was because they delegated power to their courtiers.

The fundamental reason for decentralizing power is that one person cannot govern a huge country anyway... Even if he can, it will not last long.

With the Tianxian in my mouth, I am the Yingzheng of the empire. It can be said that I have taken all the power of the world into myself, and no one can challenge his authority.

And this, of course, requires paying a price.

In comparison, it would be much easier for the emperor to directly split the power into separate parts.

Gu Xun pondered for a moment and did not comment on Fusu's words. Instead, he asked first, "So do you prefer enfeoffment?"

Fusu shook his head, "What Mr. Tingwei said is not unreasonable. The hundreds of years of war since the Spring and Autumn Period are inseparable from the old feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty."

"If the authority of the Central Emperor has always been there, it would be okay to say that once there is a change, I am afraid that the Spring and Autumn Event will immediately appear on this land again."

"This is never a good thing, no matter what."

"I'm not inclined to enfeoffment, but the counties... I'm worried about my father's health."

"Well..." Gu Xun thought for a moment and replied, "I told you this question a long time ago."

“If you want to centralize power, you must learn to decentralize it.”

"Local power, central power, and even the emperor's power must be both centralized and decentralized."

"Concentrate upwards and spread out on both sides."

"The current situation in the empire is that it is too centralized."

“On the one hand, there is almost no decentralization of power, and on the other hand, there is too much upward centralization.”

"Tens of millions of people are all tied to your father. It's certainly dangerous to strangle him to death."

Fusu frowned and asked, "But how should we solve this?"

Gu Xun looked at Fusu and smiled, "This issue is not something you should consider now."

If you want to take action on the administrative system, only the emperor himself can do it.

And Fusu is not the emperor yet.

(End of this chapter)